Pneumatic-actuated tools, sometimes referred to as “air” tools, are a type of power tool common at construction sites. Pneumatic tools are a category of power tools actuated by compressed air, usually supplied by a gas or electric compressor, delivered to the pneumatic tool by way of an air hose. Examples of pneumatic tools include nail guns, impact wrenches, and drills. Pneumatic fittings on both the air hose and the pneumatic tool enable connecting and disconnecting on demand. Typically, pneumatic tools are equipped with a male fitting component that mates with a female fitting on the end of the air hose. These pneumatic fittings can be attached and disconnected without the use of tools.
Pneumatic tools, because of their remote air supply, are easily carried by a worker to various locations around a job site, often switching to a new supply of compressed air at each location. It is also common for the worker with a pneumatic tool, such as a nail gun, to climb ladders or traverse joists while carrying the pneumatic tool in order to reach a location where the pneumatic tool is needed. For example, during the construction of a roof with asphalt tiles, a worker may climb one or more ladders to reach the roof and subsequently traverse various sections of the roof while placing asphalt tiles at the various sections and affixing the asphalt tiles with nails driven by a pneumatic nail gun.
A worker usually keeps a pneumatic tool in one or both hands while working on a jobsite, but must place the tool on a surface or otherwise suspend it from the worker's belt or a nearby fixture to use both hands freely or to change to a second pneumatic tool. Using a second pneumatic tool may also require detaching the pneumatic hose from the first tool and reattaching the pneumatic hose to the second tool. Workers commonly use pneumatic tools while at the top of a ladder to insert roofing nails on the roof of a building to secure roofing tiles or in other typically dangerous environments. In such dangerous situations, the worker is both safer and more efficient when able to easily stow the pneumatic tool and use both hands where necessary.